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Challenges in driving online travel services in Russia in comparison to Scandinavian markets. Independent Travel Site Meta-Search Searching hundreds of websites Travel Hunting Tool The of Travel .
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Challenges in driving online travel services in Russia in comparison to Scandinavianmarkets
Independent Travel Site Meta-Search Searching hundreds of websites Travel Hunting Tool The of Travel We are the feeling of travelling, we are freedom fighters and we are creating a strongmomondo brand in Russia.... We love technology and have a passion for travel.
History Travel search site momondo was founded by innovative IT programmers with a passion for travel, and launched as a flight search engine in Denmark in 2006. 16 March 2010 - momondo was launched in Russia.
The obvious challenges • Language • Network- OTA’s- Airlines- Media • Travel culture • Business culture- Business rules- Strict laws- Administration/documentation
Russia vs Scandinavia in some boring numbers Russia has the biggest internet population in Europe.
Imagine… “Imagine the opportunities that arise from a market with 10 time zones, 140 million people, 200% mobile phone penetration and 48% internet penetration. However, since this market is expanding constantly, Russia’s great future has just begun.” Source: Google
Online travel in Russia • only 12% Russians have international passports • only 10% (15 million) have traveled abroadat some point of time • abouta thirdchose the internet to book theirtickets Only 5 million people in Russia using online travel services Source: http://www.tourism-review.com
E-travel market potential • More independent travelers • More frequent travelers due to increase in income • Education and transparency in holiday planning
E-Travel market challenges Customers: • Not used to online payment • Preferpackage tours from tour operators • People travel 1-2 times per year to limited amount of destinations • Language barrier Competition: • Generally, the travel site market is characterised by intense competition. The airlines’ own booking engines and well established OTA’s grab part of the market as well.
Travel habits Denmark: Russia:
Meta search market challenges Customers: • Low awareness of meta search • Trust issues Market: • Big amount of OTA’s How do we deal with it: • Educate our customers • Trustful OTA’s with a good reputation • Exciting brand and supporting products
Who are our customers? Denmark Russia momondo’s users in Denmark vs. Russia.
Who are they? Generation Y • They are smart and independent • They know exactly what they want to buy and which price they are ready to pay • They don’t need recommendations and they do not trust advertising • Their best friend and relied partner is Internet - not TV
TV is widely used as a brand channel in Scandinavia for online travel brands.
How to attract the smart-asses? Online marketing • Skilledlocal online marketers • Learnmoreaboutyourcustomers • Social Media • Travelbloggers • Reviews of our website Product • Listen to our customers • Develop the best product on the market • Surprise them • Make them our best friend • Don’t oversell. Remember, they know the price!
Social Media 82% of Russian users are registered on Social Network Sites!
Traffic Source Denmark – heavily increase in mobile.
Traffic Source Russia – increase in both mobile and desktop traffic.
Conclusions • Russia is a very challenging and unique market • Need to focus more on Online Marketing, Social Media, travel bloggers in Russia • Growth of independent travelers in Russia vs Scandinavia • Meta search is becoming more widely used in Russia
momondo is looking forward to the challenges, to develop the collaboration with our Russian partners and to inspire more Russians to travel! momondo loves Russia! Thank you!